The Love of A Friend; (Continuation of Living In A Nightmare)

I woke up to the sound of my alarm coming from the floor beside my bed. Unwillingly, I threw the covers off and kicked my big furry friend to the floor, reaching for my phone. The closer the alarm sounded, the more it seemed to ring inside my head. I felt like I woke up with the biggest hangover of my life, although I’ve never been drunk before. I’ve seen Sloane wake up with one and I imagined this is exactly what it must feel like. Sloane said it felt like being hit by a truck and well, that’s exactly what I felt at the moment. Except the truck that hit me last night was in the form of a hundred and twenty pound woman.

I turned off my alarm and looked down to examine my aching body. I had two bruises on my left arm and a few scratches. I lifted my shirt and gently touched both sides of my ribs and there was a lump on the left with a nice shade of purple to go with it. I relived each moment whenever I inhaled too deep and I thought I must be dreaming, I thought I’d wake up from this awful nightmare. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a nightmare and I had to get ready to go to school, pain or no pain. There was nothing that would keep me in this house anyway and I got up as quickly as I could manage, I grabbed the first t-shirt and jeans I laid eyes on. Not my best ensemble but it was simple and I needed to get out of this poisoned room as fast as possible.

I shimmied into my skinny jeans and pulled my little grey t-shirt over my head and grabbed my phone to text Sloane. It was six forty-five and Sloane already texted me that she would be on her way in five minutes. That gave me just enough time to wash up and pull my hair in a ponytail.

I grabbed my backpack and quietly made my way to the bathroom so I could get ready and walk out the door unoticed.I didn’t want to leave a chance to bump into my mother. Even though I figured with as much as she had to drink last night, it would take an entire army to wake her.

I washed up and neatly tied my curls in a pony in record time. I heard Sloane pull up outside, I walked to the coat closet near the front door and slipped on my black Vans and bolted out like a bat out of hell. I rushed over to Sloane’s car and her smile faded as soon as I got closer to the door. I jumped in and slammed the door with more force than I meant to. Sloane’s eyes were on me like a hawk and I couldn’t bring myself to meet them.

“Please, just drive.” It was a plea in itself and Sloane knew not to ask, just do what her best friend asked of her and I loved her for that. She drove off and slowed down as we entered the school zone. It was still early so we sat in the car with that grew larger and as heavy as a tractor sitting on my chest. I knew she was waiting for me to start but I didn’t know where to begin.

“You want to tell me what happened babe?” She asked as she placed a careful hand on my shoulder. I looked from my trembling hands to her face and began to cry.

“Oh— hey, sweetheart. Damn it. It was your mother wasn’t it? Did she get wasted again?” She asked with far too much anger in her voice as she leaned in to hug me. I hunched over to lean in to her embrace and let myself cry violently in my best friends arms.

“I… I just don’t know why she has to be so damn cruel.” I said through heavy cries.

“It’s alright, Lydia I have you okay. You can totally stay at my place until things blow over with your mom.”Staying at Sloane’s place wasn’t exactly ideal. Her parents were always fighting but anything was better than being at home with a monster of a mother. Although, Sloane’s mother has always asked a thousand and one questions when I was over. It’s almost as if she got a kick out of hearing my sorry stories of a shattered home.

“Thanks.” I said as I wiped my face with the back of my hand.

“You know I’m always here for you, babe.” Sloane turned the key in the ignition and left the school grounds, speeding off towards her house. I must have dozed off because it seemed like we were there in the blink of an eye. Sloane nudged my shoulder before she opened her door.

“Yeah, okay.” I said as I forced myself out of the car. I just wanted the night to be over. I felt like I had been up for days. I would think I’d be used to my mothers outbursts by now. I have been dealing with them for as long as I could remember after all.

“Try not to make any noise okay.” Sloane unlocked the door, put her finger to her lips as if I didn’t already know the drill. I nodded and locked the door behind me. We tip-toed all the way down the dark hall and made it to her room without waking her parents. I sighed in relief as I dropped my bag and kicked off my shoes.

Sloane flicked the light switch to her bedside lamp, revealing a mess of clothes on her bed and floor. Smiling, I walked over and helped pick up the mess, throwing it to side so we could worry about it tomorrow.

“I just want to sleep for a week.” I said. Wriggling out of my jeans, Sloane tossed me some cotton shorts. I slid them on and climbed into her bed first so I could lay by the wall.

“I know. Me too, babe but unfortunately, we don’t have a week. We have about three hours before my parents get up so get some rest and we’ll go grab some food at the town square, okay?” She said with a wink. I nodded and slid over a bit to make more room for her. Sloane shut the light and as we lay there silent with morning light creeping through the blinds, I thought how peaceful I felt and wished that once I fell asleep, I would never wake up.

Sloane let out a deep sigh and grabbed my hand. “You know you’ll never be like her, right?”

I was shocked and not exactly surprised that my best friend already knew one of my darkest fears, becoming my mother.

“Yeah, I know.” I said as I gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

“I love you,Lyd.”

“Love you too, Sloane.” I sunk deeper into the pillow and at last, everything went dark.